How do foreigners use Alipay and WeChat Pay in China?

Each row says only what that platform's official visitor guide or user manual says. Where a platform says nothing, we say so rather than borrow the other's rule.[1][2][3]

Set up WeChat Pay

From WeChat's English guide and WeChat Pay's user manual (updated 12 June 2026). Do it at home, where you can receive the text message.[2][3][4]

1. 1

   Install and register

   Download or update WeChat and register with your phone number. A non-Chinese number works if it can receive texts.

2. 2

   Open the wallet

   Tap Me → Pay and Services → Wallet. If you registered with a foreign number and see no Pay and Services page, go to Me → Settings → General → Accessibility and turn on Weixin Pay.

3. 3

   Add your card

   In Wallet, tap Bank Cards → Add a Bank Card, agree to the terms and fill in your identity details as prompted.

   • A card issued outside mainland China with a UnionPay logo counts as UnionPay International: choose UnionPay as the card type.
   • Up to 3 foreign cards per account; one card can be linked to at most 2 WeChat accounts.
4. 4

   Upload your passport if asked

   If you verify with a passport, WeChat notifies you when it needs a copy: a photo of the passport and a photo of you holding it. Review takes about one working day; the result arrives from the WeChat Pay official account.

5. 5

   Pay

   Scan the merchant's QR code, or show your payment code to be scanned.

Set up Alipay

Alipay's visitor page is shorter on detail; the app guides you through the rest.[1]

1. 1

   Install Alipay

   Download Alipay and choose the international version when you log in.

2. 2

   Register

   Enter your mobile number with its country code, tap Next and follow the prompts.

3. 3

   Add your card

   Select the country or region on your ID, then add your international bank card.

4. 4

   Pay

   Scan or show a QR code in shops, taxis, buses and the metro, or book flights and hotels in the app.

WeChat Pay lists its networks in its user manual; Alipay shows logos on its visitor page. Each app says the add-card screen is final.[1][3]

WeChat Pay cannot link single-brand foreign-currency cards issued by mainland Chinese banks. “Not on visitor page” means Alipay's page doesn't show it, not that it is refused: try it on the add-card screen.

WeChat publishes two sets of figures: one in its English visitor guide, and tiers by verification level in its Chinese user manual. It does not explain how they relate on one page. Your limit appears in the app when you pay.[2][3]

WeChat Pay says it sets these limits by risk and, for basic sign-ups, at the regulator's request. Alipay publishes no limit figures on its visitor page.

When WeChat Pay asks for your passport

WeChat Pay's verification manual lists four triggers for uploading an ID copy:

• A single payment of ¥10,000 or more.
• ¥50,000 or more in or out across all your accounts within 30 days.
• Balance above ¥5,000 for 10 days in a row.
• Buying a wealth product such as Licaitong or Lingqiantong.

For foreign-card users, WeChat Pay's terms ask for your name, ID number and expiry, card number, sex, nationality, contact details, occupation and address, plus a photo of the ID and a photo of you holding it. Alipay's visitor page gives no trigger amounts.

[4][5]

What we could not confirm

• Alipay's fee and spending limits for foreign cards: not on its visitor page.
• Whether Alipay currently accepts American Express and UnionPay International cards.
• How WeChat's English-guide limits relate to the tiers in its Chinese manual.
• Which country codes each app accepts: neither publishes a list.
• WeChat's Chinese-language visitor guide: blocked by a security check when we tried to read it.
• Apple Pay with a foreign card in mainland China.